An unheralded Swan has earned a great’s praise amid reports he’s garnered “significant interest” from around the competition as he comes out of contract.
Meanwhile, a burgeoning Bulldog’s name has gained steam in recent days, with a Victorian rival thought to be closely monitoring the youngster’s situation at Whitten Oval.
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Impending Sydney free agent Will Hayward is attracting in rival interest, per Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph on Thursday night.
“I can tell you tonight free agent forward Will Hayward is a player with significant interest from clubs across the competition,” Ralph told Fox Footy prior to Thursday’s season-opener.
“He was raised in Adelaide and would fit in very nicely at one of those South Australian clubs … He’s played that selfless role, but now, without ‘Buddy’, he gets the chance to play out of the square at times.”
Despite obvious links to his home state, the 25-year-old is expected to continue receiving interest from all around the league.
Hayward played a solid complementary role in Sydney’s season-opening win over the Demons, registering 10 possessions, four marks and two goals against a stingy Melbourne defence.
The livewire’s efforts were impactful enough to capture the attention of Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes, who labelled Hayward one of the more underrated AFL contributors.
“I think he’s the best ‘no one talks about me’ player,” Cornes said on SEN on Friday morning.
“I really admire the way Hayward plays. He’s tough, he plays a really selfless role in a difficult position, he’s good in the air, he always bobs up and kicks you a goal when you need it. In tough conditions he (kicked) two goals last night.
“From everyone you hear and speak to at Sydney they love him. He always wins best team man, but no one really talks about him. I just thought he deserves some love.”
Elsewhere, AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich substantiated Channel Seven reporter Mitch Cleary’s report on Wednesday night about Hawthorn’s apparent interest in uncontracted Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
After Cleary declared “Hawthorn has entered the race” to nab Ugle-Hagan, Gabelich said the Hawks have been assertive with their intrigue.
“Hawthorn has been really aggressive in this space,” Gabelich told SEN on Friday morning.
“They’ve looked at a number of different options in recent years – Todd Marshall being one of them, even Hayden McLean was someone they went after last year in a tier below Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
“The Western Bulldogs have been confident this summer that Jamarra will sign. They were hopeful he would do that before Round 1 — time will tell — but I feel the Aaron Naughton situation has just squeezed the salary cap.”
The Bulldogs penned fellow key forward Naughton to a mega eight-year extension late last year.
“All indications out of Whitten Oval are that Jamarra Ugle-Hagan is very happy, very settled, coming off a career-best year to launch into this year,” Gabelich added.
“I would be surprised if he leaves. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t re-sign in the first-half of the season, but who knows, they’ve got a lot on their plate with Tim English and Bailey Smith as well.”
The Bulldogs will commence their campaign in Round 1 against the 0-1 Demons on Sunday, March 17.
Source Agencies
